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What We Know with Max Foster
Ukraine: Russian Strikes On Mall Kill 15, Injure 130; Prince Harry, Others To Pay $13M In Initial Costs; Spain's African Workforce Helping To Feed Europe; White House Faces Questions About Trump-Harp Relationship. Aired 3-4p ET
Aired August 21, 2026 - 15:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[15:00:42]
MAX FOSTER, CNN HOST: Double tap drone strike kills more than a dozen people in Ukraine.
This is WHAT WE KNOW.
Officials say Russian attacks on a shopping mall in central Ukraine have taken the lives of at least 15 people, wounded at least 130, including
children. You are looking at video posted to social media. The strike was a so-called double tap.
The first strike caused a massive fire, the second, according to the President Volodymyr Zelenskyy came about 30 minutes later and targeted
emergency responders. At least 29 of the people who were hurt are in serious condition.
CNN's Nick Paton Walsh has more.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
NICK PATON WALSH, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, I mean, the images are particularly distressing. Remember, we seem to be in
something of an escalatory spiral here between Ukraine and Russia. Russia continuing its callous often targeting of specifically civilian sites and
also Ukraine hitting recently as well distribution centers for Amazon style delivery service called Wildberries. Now, they said that's part of their
military logistics network.
But both sides sort of increasingly looking towards civilian targets. Russia's been doing that much more severely for some time, but this strike
on Kryvyi Rih, in a shopping center, is a particularly ghastly strike. It seems I've been to that shopping It is frequented by everybody you might
possibly imagine. According to officials here, there was one drone strike in two waves, and then 30 minutes after the first, second drone went in
specifically so Ukrainian officials to hit the first responders on the scene.
Now, the numbers here are particularly striking because we're talking about 14 fatalities as of eight o'clock that's about an hour ago Ukrainian time
and 121 injured including 22 children. So devastating toll in this particularly specific bid to hit a civilian target there.
You know, these shopping centers -- yes, sometimes you see soldiers in there buying food like But this is very clearly a civilian target being
hit. And we're now seeing, I think, this increasing scope of targets by both sides. I should say Ukraine's targeting more infrastructure and
military, it seems, in its focus, but Russia increasingly brutal in what it's willing to hit out at.
We've reported on the damage to gas stations across the country. upon the energy infrastructure regularly. Look, almost nightly apartment blocks are
hit. Unclear if that's purposeful or just missiles going wildly off course. The Ukrainian official you were referencing in that earlier report talked
about how some of these North Korean missiles land 15 to 19 kilometers off what they believe is their target. So -- an increasingly horrific toll
there and I should point out too that July was the most deadly month for Ukrainian civilians since May of 2022.
There is no real peace. mechanism at sight here there have been discussions potentially that maybe the US process essentially Mar now might somehow
have life breathed into it again maybe they a visit by Jared Kushner or Steve Witkoff to Moscow they even floated some individuals the idea it
might even go to Ukraine for the first time but that seems to be paused and instead now we're seeing Russia clearly exploiting the horrific gap in
Ukraine's air defenses because they're not getting the Patriot interceptors they need. The strike you're seeing images from now that's a drone Russia's
drones jet-powered now faster, harder to stop. We're going to see more horrific incidents like this, I fear, in the months ahead, Max.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
FOSTER: That's Nick Paton Walsh then, speaking to me a little earlier.
Joining me now live from Kyiv is Ukrainian parliament member Oleksandr Merezhko, chair of the Foreign Affairs Committee.
Thank you so much for joining us.
What -- the president said that the double tap was designed in the second wave to attack emergency workers. I mean, what do we understand about what
happened today?
OLEKSANDR MEREZHKO, CHAIR, FOREIGN AFFAIRS COMMITTEE, UKRAINIAN PARLIAMENT: Well, it's a typical Russian crime. It's an act of terror and it's a war
crime. Russia is committing such crimes against Ukrainian civilian population practically each day, each night, and the same day Russia in
Mykolaiv Oblast has killed three children because they targeted building where post office and where a store is located.
[15:05:14]
So, Russia is doing it deliberately. Russia is waging war against civilian population. And unfortunately, Russia is escalating, is intensifying. And
the problem is that we lack missiles which would allow us to protect us better to intercept Russian missiles. Ahead of us is extremely difficult
winter to go through this winter, we need at least 300 Patriot interceptors missiles from our allies, including the United States. But Russia is
exploiting this moment of weakness, the lack of military capabilities to defend ourselves.
And unfortunately, we'll be seeing more and more such war crimes. And the question is what will be reaction of American president because he has been
silent recently with regard to such atrocities committed on a daily basis by Russia against civilians. I would like to see strong reaction from
President Trump and from our American friends.
FOSTER: What about Europe? There are some Patriot missiles in storage in Europe that they could send you. Have you got -- you know, are you making
any progress there? They're not just in the U.S., are they?
MEREZHKO: Our foreign minister has recently said that we have to fight for each missile to get like Patriot missiles, because, unfortunately, Europe
doesn't have these missiles in adequate quantities. Germany, Poland are trying to help us, but they themselves don't have enough. Germany is trying
to produce these kind of missiles which we need, but it takes some time. But you know, we need these missiles and these air defense systems right
now to defend our people. Unfortunately, we don't have enough of them.
FOSTER: Yeah, I mean, there are shocking images we've seen coming out of that shopping center. So, they are thoughts with everyone involved.
Oleksandr Merezhko, appreciate your time with us on the program tonight.
Now, the legal bill has been revealed for Prince Harry, or at least part of it, over a failed case against "The Daily Mail's" publisher. The Duke of
Sussex and six other high-profile figures, including Sir Elton John, will have to make an initial payment of $13 million. They accused Associated
Newspapers Limited of gathering information unlawfully. The publisher strongly denied those claims.
And last month, a judge dismissed all the cases.
Richard Quest is following all of the developments for us.
I think they put in different figures for this initial amount, didn't they, Richard? But they lent much more to "The Daily Mail's" figure. You know, it
was a very high figure, and we can assume it's going to get higher as well because "The Mail" wants more.
RICHARD QUEST, CNN BUSINESS EDITOR-AT-LARGE: "The Mail" wants the best part of $42 million by way of costs for the case. And the judge has already said
that seems exceptionally high and is going to take a very stiff pencil to it. But at the end of the day, the fundamental principle in English courts
is that costs follow the results. And the plaintiffs, Harry and others, Sir Elton and Sadie, they all lost. And as such, they have to pay the costs of
the other side.
And the judge at nine million today, $13 million, basically saying you're going to have to stump that up now. We know there's up to $16 million, I
believe, in insurance, 6 million pounds worth of insurance, $20 odd million worth of insurance.
So, although insurance is going to take off most of the burden, it's a fair bet that Harry and his cohorts will have to dig into their own pockets to
help pay some of this cost, which for them will be absolutely, I mean, gut wrenching because they believe they were so badly done by Associated, which
the judge says was wrong, not.
FOSTER: Yeah, and I don't think it even includes their legal bills, although it could have been no win, no fee, I guess.
But, Richard, separately, obviously we know so much about the Sussexes' issues with the media.
QUEST: Yeah.
FOSTER: They're now flying back into it, aren't they, due back in the UK. How are they handling that?
FOSTER: They have made a request to the media for privacy. They've made a request for privacy for themselves, where they're going to live, for their
children, for where their children will go to school and a lot of that request is entirely reasonable, justified and well within the existing
boundaries of press guidelines in the United Kingdom.
[15:10:08]
So, a lot of what they're saying is, hang on. We're coming back, but we are entitled to our privacy. That means where we're living, where our children
are going to school, et cetera, et cetera.
The difficulty here, Max, as you know very well, is that they're going to be running a quasi-public life. Whether Meghan goes back into her former
industry of acting or not, whether Harry goes and does more charity work, whether they take on corporate, who knows? But they're going to be in the
public domain.
And how do you balance that with your request for privacy at a time when everybody wants to know every last bit about you? It's not going to work
well. I promise you that now.
FOSTER: Yeah, we're about to see, aren't we? It could be in a matter of days that they're here.
Richard, as ever, thank you.
Now, after weeks of living in limbo, hundreds of migrants in the Spanish territory of Ceuta have been moved to temporary shelters.
Now, images of migrants crossing into that enclave set off outrage across parts of Europe, even though many of the same areas rely heavily on migrant
labor.
Jomana Karadsheh traveled to southern Spain to meet some of the people who help feed the continent.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JOMANA KARADSHEH, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Chaos and utter human despair at Spain's doors, scenes that fast became fuel for the far right
and growing anti-immigration voices on both sides of the Atlantic. But behind these images lies a more complex reality, as we found on our journey
to try to understand Europe's immigration debate and what drives so many to risk everything to get here.
KARADSHEH: We are in the middle of a sea of plastic so vast its visible from space greenhouses everywhere you look. This is Almeria in southern
Spain. It is often described as Europe's vegetable garden because of this concentration of greenhouses. It produces millions of tons of fresh fruit
and vegetables every year, enough to feed half a billion people.
KARADSEH (voice-over): In the shadow of one of Europe's agricultural heartlands exists a darker side rarely seen, slums like this one that have
been around for years, home to part of the massive African workforce helping feed this continent. In a scene of squalor in modern day Europe, we
find migrants from North and West Africa.
In his previous life, Amoateng Foster was a math teacher in Ghana. Two years ago, he left it all behind, saying he paid smugglers about $2,300 for
a perilous journey through Libya and across the Mediterranean, eventually making it to Spain
AMOATENG FOSTER, GHANAIAN MIGRANT WORKER: And I'm not going to recommend anybody to do so. Very dangerous
KARADSEH (voice-over): He shows us around this rundown shack he shares with another worker.
FOSTER: So this is my place.
KARADSEH (voice-over): Amoateng story is that of so many parents enduring the subhuman conditions, all for the future of his kids, he says, to save
enough to put them through college.
KARADSHEH: A lot of people are saying, we don't want any migrants close the borders. I mean, how does it make you feel?
FOSTER: It becomes a little bit worrying. Everything that they are doing here is farming and the workers that they are using, all of us are
immigrants. These white people can't do it. The government saw that we are helping them. They are also helping us. It's a mutual benefit.
KARADSEH (voice-over): The Spanish economy relies on migrant workers so heavily that the government announced an amnesty in April, offering legal
status to hundreds of thousands already in the country.
Amoateng hopes being here legally would bring him rights and respect.
FOSTER: If you are outside the fence, you may think that it is rosy here, it's not rosy here. Look at the environment that we live in. But when you
are outside, you may think that, oh, Europe is, Europe. No, no, no, no, there's no roses here because you suffer before you can get a cent.
Do you know how much they are giving us here, how much they give us here to work in this farm? For one hour, they give you five euros. This hot
environment like this, you kneel down like this, work continuously, just like that. And they give you five euros.
KARADSEH (voice-over): We get a glimpse into that grueling reality. Amoateng described inside one of the countless greenhouses.
[02:40:00]
These men spent hours delicately planting tomatoes. Their hard labor will soon fill the shelves of European supermarkets. In the sweltering summer
heat, temperatures must remain constant in here.
KARADSHEH: We've been here for a few minutes, and this heat is intense.
[15:15:00]
I'm sweating and I can't begin to imagine what it's like for these guys working in these conditions, in this heat. Apparently, it hit 44 degrees or
111 Fahrenheit earlier today, and they have to do this for hours and hours.
KARADSEH (voice-over): The owner of this greenhouse told us he only hires documented workers and pays the legal minimum wage.
But across Almeria, you find so many who are undocumented, vulnerable to exploitation, some of it happening in plain sight. At roundabouts and
street corners, they wait to be picked up for off the book jobs that pay well below the minimum wage.
Off camera, business owners told us they pay what they can afford to still make a profit.
The arrival of foreign labor helped revive a region that was once in decline. All around here, you find thriving migrant communities that have
left their mark on this place, and the far right has seized on that.
In suburbs like La Canada that overwhelmingly voted for the populist radical right party Vox, in the last election, we find pensioners echoing
the rhetoric of these parties.
"If they can work and have papers, great. The rest is an invasion," they tell us. "They are people who don't want to integrate."
It's a narrative that's been gaining traction across Europe. Fears of demographic change and migrants being blamed for the rise in the cost of
living.
Scattered graffiti hints at brewing tensions. This one reads, "No Muslims, no NGOs."
Perhaps a message for the groups on the frontline of this crisis, like the Mercedarian Sisters of Charity, the calls for help to this Catholic NGO
helping migrants get back on their feet seem nonstop during our visit.
SISTER FRANCISCA, MERCEDARIAN SISTERS OF CHARITY (translated): No, I'm sorry my boy.
KARADSEH (voice-over): Sister Francisca turned 80 this month, but there's no rest for this woman on a mission.
SISTER FRANCISCA (translated): The most common thing is that ask us for is a sandwich, and they tell us, "I'm hungry".
KARADSHEH: So, they come saying, we're hungry, we want a sandwich.
SISTER FRANCISCA (translated): Of course, they come here asking for something to eat.
KARADSEH (voice-over): But their food distribution center, the hungry queue for donations from local supermarkets.
Emil (ph) tells us she hasn't eaten today. Sometimes she doesn't have money to buy water and bread. She had to leave her six and four-year-old children
in Morocco, she tells us, and came here on a contract to pick strawberries. After a dispute with her employer, she found herself on the street begging
for any work.
"It was poverty that brought me here," she says. "If I had something back home, I wouldn't have come."
Sister Francisca remembers a time when there were no migrants here. Then the greenhouses came. The road to a better life has led so many to this
miserable place. It is in this land of plastic and shattered dreams, where Europe's paradox is laid bare.
Jomana Karadsheh, CNN. Almeria, Spain.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
FOSTER: Coming up, she's known as President Trump's most significant gatekeeper and his human printer. Why newly published letters are shedding
more light and increasing scrutiny on one of the president's closest aides just ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[15:21:40]
FOSTER: The U.S. Supreme Court is letting President Donald Trump's construction of the White House ballroom continue. For now, the
administration says or the administrative stay gives the justices additional time to consider the administration's formal request.
An historic preservation group sued to block the project. It argues the president needs congressional approval to build the ballroom. The
administration says the project is a security necessity. The court didn't address the legality of the project.
A White House aide expressed her utmost devotion to President Donald Trump, describing him as my guardian and protector. That's just one detail from
aide Natalie Harp's letters to the president. They were revealed in full for the first time today by "The Daily Beast".
In another letter, Harp reportedly wrote to the president, "You are all that matters to me. Don't want to ever let you down."
Harp's devotion as well as her role as his gatekeeper have fueled questions about whether her proximity to the president could be a national security
risk. In a statement to CNN, a White House spokesperson defended Harp, calling her one of the most loyal and hardest working aides on President
Trump's team. He added, "The media should focus on reporting real news and stop trying to smear dedicated public servants."
CNN senior White House reporter Kevin Liptak is with us.
I mean, no one's questioning her ability to do the job. I guess some of the language felt inappropriate in these letters, but then they weren't meant
for publication.
KEVIN LIPTAK, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Right. I think that they just sort of shed a new light on what exactly this relationship is. You
know, it is an unusual relationship. This is something that a sober and it would not ordinarily write to their boss, particularly if they were one-
time president, as he was at this point. Of course, he's the president.
Now again, you know, we know that Natalie Harp had this sort of devotion to the president. She actually credits him with saving her life. She had bone
cancer. He enacted this rule during his first term that allowed for a wider use of experimental treatments, which she sought. So, she credits him for
essentially not dying from bone cancer. And that has really endeared him to her.
And so, these letters, I think, give new insight into how exactly this dynamic functions. And I'll just read for you a few of them. In one, she
says, "I never want to bring you anything but joy." And it's not exactly clear what incident prompted this letter, but she says, "I'm sorry I lost
my focus. You are all that matters to me. I don't want to ever let you down. Thank you for being my guardian, capital G, and protector, capital P,
in this life with all my heart, Natalie."
And then in another, she says, "Please, when I fail, will you tell me? You have the absolute right to cuss me out if need be when I deserve it,
because no one knows or cares about me more. To modify a classic, I could not have parted with you to anyone less worthy. And I will add, it is I who
is unworthy."
I think that's from "Pride and Prejudice", from Jane Austen.
So, it is clearly a level of devotion that she's conveying to the president. We know that she is around him virtually all the time. She's
kind of omnipresent, whether he's traveling, whether he is inside the Oval Office, whether he is being bundled into a catering container on the tarmac
in Turkey, she is near him at all times.
[15:25:11]
That's part of why you hear some concern about someone with this sort of level of commitment to the boss sort of being in the presence of him at all
times. I think what we've sort of ascertained over the course of this week, and it is reflected in the letters as well, is this is sort of like a
father-daughter relationship in its nature.
There's no indication that she's going anywhere. White House aides have really kind of rallied around her this week, even though, if privately,
some of them have also said that it is something of an odd relationship.
So, she's not going anywhere. She will be around for the foreseeable future, but sort of the strangeness around it, I don't think dissipating
it.
FOSTER: Okay, Kevin, thank you so much.
China says new U.S. sanctions would not fit the interest of any party. Beijing pushing back on US President Donald Trump's threat of an economic
D-Day. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent echoed the president's day, urging China, a major trading partner of Tehran, to get with the program.
President Trump announced a shift in U.S. strategy this week whilst peace talks with Iran are still at a standstill.
Sources tell CNN that the US Navy could be reversing its decision to name an aircraft carrier after an heroic Black sailor and instead honor
President Donald Trump. Doris Miller was a sailor in the U.S. Navy during the attack on Pearl Harbor. He helped his wounded commanding officer man an
anti-aircraft gun without having any training. The vessel that should have carried Miller's name is under construction. Other Navy is currently
referring it only by its hull number.
Coming up, Prince Harry and other high-profile figures are facing some hefty legal costs. We'll tell you what a judge has ordered them to pay in
their failed case against the publisher of "The Daily Mail".
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[15:30:32]
FOSTER: Back now to one of our top stories. Just as we are learning that Prince Harry and his wife Meghan will soon return to Britain, an English
high court judge has imposed a hefty payment in a case involving "The Daily Mail". So, Prince Harry and other high-profile figures, including Sir Elton
John, have been ordered to pay an initial $13 million after their failed privacy lawsuit against the publisher of "The Daily Mail". The group
alleged that Associated Newspapers Limited gathered information unlawfully for stories published between '97 and 2015. A judge dismissed their case
last month.
We're joined now by Media Law (AUDIO GAP) with Howard Kennedy.
Thank you, Mark, because you're best placed to explain these things.
But as I understand it, Harry and the other claimants accused "The Daily Mail" of using illegal methods in the way they got their stories. And they
had something like 50 stories, didn't they, that they were using as evidence. And the judge threw them all out. It was pretty damning in the
end for Harry.
MARK STEPHENS, SOLICITOR, HOWARD KENNEDY: Yeah, so they lost the court case. And today was yet another bruising day for Prince Harry and his
fellow claimants. Of course, in the U.K., if you lose a court case, you have to not only pay your own legal costs, but also the winner's legal
costs. Although the winner usually only gets bad about 60 percent of what they spend.
And today's order kind of gives us a direction of travel. And we know that the legal meter ran up to about 34 million pounds for the newspaper. But
the court doesn't simply rubber stamp a bill of that size. The real battle now is going to be taken about how much of that 34 million is recoverable.
And so, really what the judge has done is ordered roughly 9.5 million, about $13 million to be paid on account, which suggests to us as English
lawyers that that's about two thirds of what he expects the final recovery to be.
You see, you spend money on litigation, spend as much as you want, but the court imposes a reality check on what you can reasonably recover. And in
this case, that's probably around 16 million pounds, about $22 million. Still a sizable sum.
FOSTER: Which is actually -- which is interesting because that would cover, they would be covered by insurance. As I understand it, they've got up to
$20 million of insurance already in place. So, actually, they will have that final figure covered most likely.
STEPHENS: Yes, they will. There was a slight quirk to that because the judge said that this was a case that should never really have been bought
and said that they should get more of their costs back than would normally be the case. And so, they had taken insurance of up to 16 million because
that's what the court had anticipated the cost would be.
So, I think they're unlikely to recover, or the newspaper unlikely to recover much more than 20 million pounds, so about $25 million. So, it's
possible that Prince Harry, Elton John and all the other celebrities may have to pick up about two to three million pounds, about $5 million from
their own pocket. I suspect they can afford it mostly.
FOSTER: Yes, but this doesn't include their own costs. That could be in the tens of millions, couldn't it, amongst the group. But there could have also
been no win, no fee. I mean, where does that stay?
STEPHENS: Yeah, in this particular case, we do know that the lawyers were so confident, misplaced confidence, obviously, that they were going to win,
that they did it on a no win, no fee basis.
So, the lawyers for Prince Harry and all the rest of them are going to get zilch and will spend a lot of time and money for no outcome. But it doesn't
avoid that other problem. That's one of the reasons I think that they got insurance because they can get cost insurance in this country. And so, they
did a pretty good calculation in -- not in relation to the court case, but in relation to how much costs that Associated might get.
And so, they're going to be pretty much covered. Humiliating, yes, but actually they're not going to be hugely out of pocket and certainly not
going to change their lifestyles any much.
FOSTER: I really appreciate you joining us, Mark Stephens, and shedding light on that because it's a different story we're seeing in the newspapers
tonight where we've got a much bigger figure. But you've really explained how it works. Thank you so much.
Now, in the final moments of trade on Wall Street, stocks are rebounding after a week, largely in the red. The Dow up one percent today.
This is our Business Breakout.
Trade talks continue today between Canada and the U.S., ahead of Saturday's new deadline. President Donald Trump has threatened new American tariffs
that would come into effect on Saturday. The deal should be reached, should it be reached, would end 18 months of tense relations between Mr. Trump and
Canada.
Volkswagen's CEO has warned deep cost cuts are needed to keep the company afloat. Oliver Bloom's comments come as Volkswagen is believed to be
preparing to cut up to 50,000 jobs. Volkswagen has struggled against Chinese competition, hitting the European market and costly U.S. tariffs as
well.
A low-budget Chinese animated film has become a surprising box office hit. "You Lie or the Bull Comes" has grossed more than $4 million after
reportedly costing just thousands to make. The film tells the story of a newborn calf and originally flopped in cinemas before going viral on social
media. There you go.
More than 150 wallets on the online trading platform Polymarket may have traded on U.S. military secrets. That is according to research of the Anti-
Corruption Data Collective.
CNN's Marshall Cohen has more on that.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MARSHALL COHEN, CNN SENIOR REPORTER: This insider trading stuff just keeps coming up over and over. So just to give you the context here, war markets
like these are actually illegal in the U.S. So, all the trades you mentioned occurred on Polymarket's international site. That site runs on
blockchain, so all the trades are actually public and trackable. And even though it does not tell us who is doing the trading, the data is still
incredibly valuable, and the folks at the nonpartisan Anti-Corruption Data Collective did a deep dive.
They identified, like you said, more than 150 accounts that showed signs of potential insider trading on war markets, including markets about Iran.
They said many of these accounts placed huge long shot bets. and had a stunning win rate, you can see it on your screen, 97 percent. And
altogether, those accounts profited more than $8 million.
Now, to be clear, Polymarket is not accused of any wrongdoing. I spoke with a senior Polymarket official about these findings. They said they have
already referred dozens of those accounts to the Justice Department and that criminal investigations are underway. CNN has reached out to the DOJ
for comment on that.
Now, Polymarket says also that it is investing quite heavily on internal surveillance tools to prevent insider trading just like this. And the
company's founder and CEO, Shayne Coplan, brought that up yesterday at an event right here in Washington, D.C. with the federal regulators that
oversee prediction markets.
Listen to this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SHAYNE COPLAN, POLYMARKET CEO: We have someone here right now who is ex- FBI, who works full-time at Polymarket, has built custom proprietary surveillance software on-chain. I know this is live streams, so people are
going to be upset to hear that.
But we talk with our partners, Palantir Chainalysis, and they're like, damn, you guys have this in-house? This is serious. And we're grateful to
have that, and we continue to invest more in it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COHEN: Looking at the big picture here, it's situations like these exactly the reason why so many policymakers here in the U.S. are very alarmed about
the explosive growth of prediction markets. Forty-four of the 45 state attorney generals are in agreement and pushing hard for more regulation of
this industry. And there's also an increasing number of Democrats and Republicans on Capitol Hill who want to rein this in.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
FOSTER: Marshall Cohen there.
Still to come, the defense rests in the Lindsay Clancy murder trial. We'll take a look at who the last witness was and what's next in that tragic
case.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[15:42:30]
FOSTER: The defense has rested its case in the Lindsay Clancy murder trial. The 36-year-old Massachusetts woman did not take the stand in the end about
fatally strangling her three children. The defense is trying to show her actions were the result of mental illness and a combination of drugs to
treat postpartum psychosis.
Brynn Gingras joins us now.
We heard from one of the key witnesses today, didn't we?
BRYNN GINGRAS, CNN U.S. NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, really, Max, very key to the defense's case before they rested their case and that was from a
forensic psychiatrist known as Philip Resnick. Now this is a person who has literally made a career on being a part of testifying and studying murders
all across really this country, this world. I can name a few Casey Anthony, the Unabomber.
Andrea Yates, of course, that one drawing close parallels to this case for Lindsay Clancy and essentially this forensic psychiatrist saying that he's
absolutely certain that Lindsay Clancy was going through a psychotic break of having someone command her to kill her children when this incident
happened in January of 2023.
I want you to hear a moment that he said to the jurors.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DR. PHILLIP RESNICK, FORENSIC PSYCHIATRIST: She had what is known as a delusion of influence, that is not only did she hear a command, but she
felt that her body was taken over by an external force where she was in a green space and did not have control of her own body. It was almost like
she was a puppet and someone else was pulling the strings.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GINGRAS: I mean, that is like the entirety of the defense's case right there. And when it was time for the prosecution to cross-examine Max,
essentially they were just trying to say then if this is such the case, how come no other therapist, no other medical professional that Lindsay had met
with prior to the killings heard anything about some sort of voice or some sort of command that she received? Why is it not in her medical record?
So that was sort of the argument they've made with a lot of witnesses that took the stand for the defense. But as far as timeline goes in this case,
we're nearing the end. We are in the section of rebuttal right now. for the prosecution.
So, they've called their first witness. The defense is cross examining that person right now. This is another doctor that examined Lindsay Clancy and
his defense right now kind of ticking through his resume questioning his, you know, authority to even have an educated opinion about Lindsay Clancy.
And then we expect two more witnesses to be called for the prosecution, so likely that will happen on Monday. And then closing arguments and likely
this jury is going to get the case sometime early next week, Max.
FOSTER: OK, I will wait for that. Brynn, thank you so much.
Also, jurors in the Tupac Shakur murder trial heard some key witness testimony today. Leonard Jefferson, who took the last known photo of Shakur
before he was shot in 1996, took to the stand. He testified about the night the rapper was killed, saying he heard the gunshots, but did not see where
they came from.
Duane Davis is accused of orchestrating Shakur's murder during a visit to Las Vegas.
I want to bring in CNN's Josh Campbell, who joins us from Los Angeles.
You know, this is the first week of this very high profile try. How would you summarize it?
JOSH CAMPBELL, CNN SENIOR CORRESPONDENT: Well, you know what's interesting, Max, is that the jury in this case, they're not just hearing from witnesses
who were there that day, but they're also hearing recordings of the defendant himself, Duane Davis, who, as you mentioned, has pleaded not
guilty in connection with these murder charges for the death of Tupac Shakur. Now, what the defense claims is that although he gave different
interviews over the years to the media, to law enforcement, essentially saying, yes, I was there. I was involved in what was happening. I handed
the gun that was used to kill Tupac to my nephew who was in the back seat of the car.
What the defense is now saying is that all of that was made-up, that he essentially made-up those stories in order to try to profit off of this
case. Of course, we'll have to see how that lands with the jury.
Right now, jurors are hearing different audio recordings from Duane Davis's interviews with law enforcement. Take a listen here to him describing that
night 30 years ago.
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
OFFICER: You did a U-turn, so then you pulled alongside of it. You guys are in the car. So you hand the gun to the backseat.
DUANE DAVIS, DEFENDANT: Yeah.
I gave it to Dre. Dre was like, No, no. And Lane's like, give it here.
OFFICER: Okay, Lane starts blasting. You say Suge looks over, he sees you.
DAVIS: Yeah.
I seen a bullet going to Suge's head. I thought he was dead. I thought he was dead. He must have scraped him or something in the head or something.
OFFICER: So Tupac's trying to jump in the back seat. And what's Suge doing? Just ducking?
DAVIS: Ducking. He couldn't really duck because he was too big.
(END AUDIO CLIP)
CAMPBELL: The big question here is that so many of these this recounting that he's done has been quite detailed about that night. So again, we're
waiting to see how this actually lands with the jury. What they ultimately decide.
Finally, Max, we heard some really stunning testimony in court this week with prosecutors saying that according to Duane Davis's own statements that
it was rap mogul Sean "Diddy" Combs, who had allegedly offered a $1,000,000 bounty for both rap producer Suge Knight as well as Tupac Shakur to be
killed.
Now it's worth pointing out that Sean Combs has never been charged in connection with this case. He denies having any involvement. His team, when
we reached out for comment, noted that look, the defendant here has recanted his own statement. So that's their response to those -- that --
those allegations.
Again, this is week one there are several weeks left to go. They're up to 200 witnesses who could testify in this case and then it will be in the
hands of the jury to make determination whether they believe that that infamous incident three decades ago was done in part at the hands of the
defendant Duane Davis.
FOSTER: Okay. Josh, thank you so much speak to you again next week as that continues.
CAMPBELL: Of course.
FOSTER: We'll be right back after the break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[15:51:14]
FOSTER: Neutrogena is speaking out on the sudden death of its former spokesperson Hayden Panettiere. Now the company addressed her past claims
that Panettiere felt she was dropped by the brand for speaking out about postpartum depression and acknowledged they made her feel unsupported
during a difficult time. It also pledged to make a significant investment with a mental health partner.
Elizabeth Wagmeister has been looking into that.
I mean, it's such a tragic story. I mean, I guess there's something positive coming out of this?
ELIZABETH WAGMEISTER, CNN ENTERTAINMENT CORRESPONDENT: I don't know if we can say that there's anything positive coming out of this. As you said, it
is just so incredibly tragic, the sudden and shocking passing of Hayden Panettiere.
But to your point, this has sparked a conversation about postpartum depression and how women do need to feel seen and not alone in this. So let
me tell you how Neutrogena comes into all of this. Hayden Panettiere, she broke out into worldwide stardom when she was a teenager on the show
"Heroes", which was a big here in America in the early 2000s. Well, during that time, she became the face, a spokesperson for Neutrogena.
In 2015, she went on the talk show "Kelly and Michael" with Kelly Ripa and she spoke about her postpartum depression and this was shortly after she
had given birth to her daughter and she said that it's something that she wanted to talk about because she wants other women to feel seen and again
to know that they're not alone.
Well, then fast forward from that time to more than 10 years later, in 2026, just three months ago, Max, when Hayden Panettiere was promoting her
memoir, she was on Jay Shetty's podcast. And on that podcast, she spoke about that after she came forward to talk about her battle with postpartum
depression that Neutrogena cut ties with her. She said that her representative told Neutrogena this is illegal, you can't do this. But then
the next year when her contract was up, that they didn't renew her. Hayden Panettiere's words on that podcast she said "that they fired me".
And then after again her tragic death earlier this week, well, that clip from that podcast has resurfaced and fans have been outraged. So, now,
Neutrogena has come out with a statement, Max. It's very long so I'm just going to read you part of it.
But they said, quote, "We are deeply saddened by Hayden Panettiere's passing. For more than a decade, Hayden was a valued member of our
Neutrogena community. We are proud to have partnered with her and understand that we made her feel unsupported during this very difficult
time. This is not what Neutrogena stands for or who we want to be."
I have to tell you. The backlash has not calmed down. A lot of consumers and fans very upset saying to Neutrogena, how can you stand to be a beauty
and wellness company that promotes women if this is what you did?
So, again, backlash not dying down and people just really, really struck by Hayden's passing and how vulnerable and raw she was to speak about her
journey.
FOSTER: Yeah. Okay, Elizabeth, really appreciate it. So sad.
Doctors are hoping a new personalized cancer vaccine, meanwhile, could work against many types of tumors. The Merck and Moderna vaccine is designed to
keep melanoma at bay, while chemotherapy kills both healthy and cancerous cells and immunotherapy raises the immune system. Personalized cancer
vaccines train the immune system to specifically target mutations found only on a person's tumor.
Two waterspout tornadoes hit the New York City area last night for the first time, actually, in five years. They formed over the ocean, one
touching down at a beach club on Long Island, leaving a path of destruction, and another made landfall in southern Queens. But fortunately,
no damage has been reported there, though heavy rainfall caused flash flooding across the area.
The wider East Coast was also pummeled by storms and tornado damage reported in Pennsylvania and Delaware, where a state of emergency was
declared in Dover County. One man was struck and killed by lightning, actually, in Virginia.
And finally, happy birthday to Britain's Ethel Caterham, 117 years young today. She's lived through two world wars, the sinking of the Titanic, the
Russian Revolution, and the COVID-19 pandemic.
And her secret is this, Caterham tells "The Associated Press" that she never argues with anyone. She listens quietly and does what she likes.
Guinness World Record says she's the first British woman to reach that age. Probably one of the few with those attributes.
I'm Max Foster. That's WHAT WE KNOW. Stay with CNN.
END
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